1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveying device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally known in image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers is a technology for correcting a deviation from a correct position in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to a conveying direction) (hereinafter, referred to as “lateral registration”) of a recording medium to the correct position (positional deviation correction) (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-50069, for example).
More specifically, according to the disclosure in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-50069, to correct a longitudinal registration and skew, a recording medium carried by a plurality of pairs of carriage rollers along a conveying path is caused to halt against a stopper (abutting member). A lateral registration of the recording medium is then corrected by moving the recording medium in the width direction while nipping the recording medium held in contact with the stopper between a pair of lateral registration rollers (nipping rollers) positioned on an upstream side of the stopper. Once the lateral registration is corrected, the recording medium is further carried toward an image transfer unit.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-50069 also discloses a technology in which a linear conveying path or a conveying path with a large curvature radius of 50 millimeters or more is provided on an upstream side of the pair of lateral registration rollers, in order to reduce a conveying resistance of the recording medium along the conveying path on the upstream side of the pair of lateral registration rollers, when the lateral registration is corrected.
Because the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-50069 reduces the conveying resistance of the recording medium along the conveying path on the upstream side of the pair of lateral registration rollers when the lateral registration is corrected, the technology is expected to prevent the recording medium from skewing or to prevent the lateral registration correction from being reduced in accuracy because of the conveying resistance, advantageously.
However, because the conveying path on the upstream side of the pairs of lateral registration rollers is linear, or is curved at a large curvature radius of 50 millimeters or larger, the size of the entire apparatus is increased.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a conveying device and an image forming apparatus that can correct a lateral registration highly accurately without any defect such as skew of a recording medium caused by a conveying resistance, and without increasing the size of the apparatus.